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Record Window

By clicking on ‘View’ in a summary list of evidence records or Career Narrative, you can open that specific evidence record in a pop-up Record Window. These evidence records contain the details of a specific event relating to a clergyman as recorded in the original source. Whatever type of record you select, this window contains certain, standard elements:

Immediately below, the unique identification number for that record, its ‘CCEd Record ID’.

Under ‘Linked to person’, details of to what person the evidence record has been linked. This will provide the standard Database name of the person and a date range giving the earliest and latest dates of records relating to that person in the Database (not his dates of birth and death). In the case of Appointment, Vacancy, and Liber Cleri records, there is a further option which is described below.

A column headed ‘Cleric details’, providing details of the Surname, Forename, Title, and Educational Qualification, plus the College, University and Year where he received his degree. Note that this section does not contain all the details relating to this person contained in the Database; it simply contains the details of this information as recorded in the original record. There may, therefore, be discrepancies between the information contained in this box and that contained in other records about the same person in the Database.

A column headed ‘Event type’. The information contained in this section will vary depending on the type of event recorded. See below for fuller details.

A column headed ‘Other information’. This column gives concise bibliographical details of the source from which the data contained in the evidence record has been extracted. Please see the List of sources for fuller details of a particular source. Below this comes information on the ‘Ordinary/Jurisdiction’ or ‘Bishop’. This will give the details of the bishop or other ordinary under whose jurisdiction the event took place. By clicking on the name, you open a new screen giving, in the Ordinaries Window, a summary list of all the evidence records relating to that ordinary.

Finally there is space for ‘Further information’. This has been used by the Project to enter: (i) any additional non-standard information that was recorded in the original source which it was felt might be of interest to users of the Database; (ii) any problems with or queries about the data. Please note that, as this is a continuing project, occasionally comments recorded here are intended primarily for the information of the Project team.

The range of information displayed in the Record Window depends to some extent on the type of event recorded:

Ordination. The column headed event type will list some or all of the following: the type of event recorded (an ordination or the granting of letters dimissory, for example), the date on which the event took place, the place and church at which the ordination took place, the clerical status conferred on the ordinand (generally deacon or priest), whether an ordination took place on letters dimissory from another bishop, and the ‘title’ on which the clergyman was ordained. For further details of events recorded in the Database as Ordinations, please click here.

Appointment. The column headed event type will list some or all of the following: the type of event recorded (most often an institution, collation or licensing), the date on which the event took place, the office to which the person was appointed (such as rector, vicar, curate, or schoolmaster), and the location in which that office was held. Clicking on the location name will open a screen in which the summary list of events for that location is listed in the Location Window. For further details of events recorded in the Database as Appointments, please click here.Two other features of the Appointment Record should be noted:

In some cases, towards the top of the window, between the database name of the person and the ‘Close Window’, will appear a link to ‘Vacancy Data’ (or, alternatively, if you are viewing a Vacancy, to ‘Appointment Data’). In the original source some appointment records, in particular though not exclusively records of institutions and collations, contain details of the previous holder of the office and the reason for the vacancy. These details have been entered into a vacancy evidence record that is linked to the appointment evidence record.

At the bottom of the Appointment Record appears information about the patron, the person who has nominated the clergyman or schoolmaster to the office. On the left-hand side of the screen under ‘Patron Summary’ are general details of the patronage: a Database classification of patronage type, the patron’s role (i.e., what his/her legal claim to exercise the patronage was), and a Database classification of the overall gender of those exercising the patronage. On the right-hand side, under ‘Patron Details’, are the details of the individual patron or patrons: surname, title, forename, gender, whether s/he is acting as a guardian or trustee for someone else, and a field headed Residence/Office which contains any further details about the patron that are recorded in the source. For further details about the entry of details of patronage, please click here.

Vacancy. All records displayed as Vacancy Evidence Records are linked records. That is to say, that they contain details of vacancies that have been recorded as part of an entry in the original source relating to the appointment of the next holder of the office. It is possible to move to the linked appointment record by clicking on the link that appears between the database name and the ‘Close Window’ towards the top of the window. Please note that the date given in these records is the date of the linked appointment record – it was not customary to record the date on which the vacancy had actually taken place – and thus is represents the latest possible date on which the vacancy could have occurred. Normally, the vacancy would have taken place within the previous three months. Where direct, rather than indirect, evidence of a vacancy exists, it has been entered into the Database as an Appointment record. For further details of events recorded in the Database as Vacancies, please click here.

Subscription. All clergymen and schoolmasters were required to subscribe to various oaths before ordination or appointment to an office. Subscriptions thus provide alternative evidence of an appointment or ordination.

In the case of subscriptions before ordination, the event type column will provide details of the date on which the subscription (but not necessarily the ordination itself) took place together with the clerical status to which the clergyman was being ordained (usually either deacon or priest).

In the case of appointments, the event type column will provide details of the date on which the subscription took place, the office to which the person was being appointed, and the location in which that office was held.

In some cases, the source does not make clear what was the reason for the subscription or clergy were being required to make a special additional subscription (e.g., to the provisions of the Act of Uniformity in 1662). In these cases the reason for the subscription is identified as ‘other’, which is further elucidated in a comment at the bottom of the event type column. For further details of events recorded in the Database as Subscriptions, please click here.

Liber cleri. Records displayed as Liber Cleri Evidence Records have been collected from a variety of lists recording that a group of clergymen and schoolmasters held stated posts at a particular date, the most common of which are lists of clergy, ‘libri cleri’, drawn up before visitations. For further details of the type of sources recorded in the Database as Liber Cleri, please click here. The column headed event type lists the date, the office held by the person, and the location in which the office was held. Towards the top of the window, between the database name of the person and the ‘Close Window’, is a link, ‘View Full Liber Cleri Record’. Clicking on this link will take you to a list of all clergymen and schoolmasters recorded in that particular liber cleri or other list of clergy. The ‘Liber Cleri Evidence’ record is headed by the date of the record and an ID number unique to the record.

Below this, on the right-hand side of the window, ‘Other information’ contains information about the source and the ordinary/bishop under whose jurisdiction the record was compiled. There is also a space for general comments on the source.

On the left-hand side of the window is a summary of the details contained in the list: details of location, office, cleric details (name, surname and title), educational qualification, and a comment box recording any additional information about the particular location and person. For further details of events recorded in the Database as Liber cleri, please click here.